#069

Uh oh, that sure doesn't look good for Tamaki. Of course, that was on the cover page of this adventure, so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise. Of course, his total damage taken should be 1d8 + 1d3 + twice Garrul's strength score. With his 1d6 hit die, Tamaki should only be sort of dying.

Because I'm choreographing the fights using the rules for D&D, I feel I ought to explain exactly what's happened here. Tamaki attacks Garrul. Thomas takes a five foot step away from Garrul (so he's out of threatened areas) and puts on his shield. Garrul makes a full attack, striking Tamaki with his off-hand first, takes a five foot step toward Thomas, and attacks Thomas with his longsword.

Garrul has a higher Challenge Rating than the party (which is at half fighting force right now), so caution must be taken when fighting him. Thomas chose to spend his round equipping his shield, which isn't necessarily a bad move. The defense bonus will help him in the coming rounds (he was able to draw a weapon as well, but has decided not to, we'll see why later). An alternative play the party could have made here is outlined below:

Tamaki delays his turn until after Thomas'. Thomas draws his morningstar and shield (provoking an attack of opportunity, but his high AC should mitigate that). Tamaki attacks Garrul, and since Thomas is now armed and flanking, he adds his Sneak Attack damage.

However, the alternative round could have also gone poorly for the party. If Garrul had succeeded on his attack of opportunity, Thomas would be low on hit points (or possibly disabled). So all in all, there's no exceptionally good tactics for tackling the boss with only two party members.